Wrench.



No. 763,590. ,PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904. R. I. BERTHOUD.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21. 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented June 28, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,590, dated June 28,1904. Application filed January 21, 1903. Serial No. 139,903. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RAY J. BERTHOUD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Swanton, in the county of Fulton and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, and to the figures of reference markedthereon,which forms a part of this specification.

My invention relates to wrenches for cylindrical objects, and isdesigned to furnish a cheap, simple, and effective device which isespecially well adapted for screwing and unscrewing screw-caps for glassfruit-jars and similar vessels. I attain these objects by means of thedevices and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and shown andillustrated in the single figure of the accompanying drawing, whichrepresents my wrench expanded and ready to be applied to the object tobe turned.

In the drawing, 1 is a flexible metal band, preferably of sheet metal,bent in U shape in cross-section, though it may be of wire or of anyother suitable cross-sectional form.- This band is formed insubstantially circular shape with the two ends disconnected from eachother and overlapping each other and of such dimension when expanded asto receive loosely the object to be turned. One end of the flexible bandis flattened, as shown at 2, and terminates in a thumb-piece 3. The bandnear its opposite end is flattened on its outer margin, forming a plate,as at 4:.

5 is a wrench-handle which in the present example of my invention isstamped from sheet metal, curved in cross-section and at its inner endbifurcated and formed into two par- The plate 4 is pivotally securedbetween the extremities of the plates 6, as at 7,and the plate 2 ispivotally secured between the plates 6, as at 8.

The operation of my device is as follows: The handle being held in thehand of the operator, with the thumb resting upon the thumb-piece 3, anoutward pressure upon the thumb-piece, will cause the two ends of theflexible band to swing upon their pivotal supports 6 7 into expandedposition. The band may now be slipped over, the screw-cap or otherobject to be turned or screwed. The thumb being removed from thethumb-piece, the resiliency of the band will cause it to clasp theobject which it encircles. Now by moving the outer extremity of thehandle shown in the drawing to the right the two ends of the flexibleband are moved in opposite directions and the band is caused to tightlyclasp and to turn the cap or other object which it embraces. Theopposite movement of the handle will in like manner cause the ends ofthe band to move in opposite directions and to thus expand and releasethe cap or other object. The device shown in the drawing is arranged anddisposed in such manner as to screw a right-handed thread onto itscorresponding thread by turning the handle to the right. By reversingthe device and moving the handle to the left the opposite result iseffected.

If the resiliency of the band is insuflicient to cause it to clasp theobject to be turned closely enough toact automatically when the handleis moved, a slight pull upon the thumb-piece will instantly obviate thisdifficulty.

It will be observed that the inner margin of the plate I is formed inthe arc of a circle and that when the wrench is in operative engagementwith the object to be turned such object will be equally clasped by theband in a complete circle.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is p In a wrench, a band ofresilient metal, a handle, a pivot on the handle engaged with the bandnear one end thereof, another pivot on the handle spaced apart from thefirst-mentioned pivot and connected. to the band near its other end, anda finger-piece secured to said band, adapted for manual manipulation andarranged to expand and contract the band.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RAY J. BERTHOUD.

Witnesses:

R. F. SWIGART, S. A. DORLAND.

